Ties of Blood and Honor
by Fyrloche
Summary: Visitors to the shrine share ties with Inuyasha's life in the past.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

**A/N: Hi, folks. This idea came to mind and I decided that it couldn't wait for the end of 'Reunion'. I hope that you find it entertaining. One thing though, I'm going to try to write longer chapters with more character development, so there will be longer times between updates. As always, I don't own Inuyasha. I've tried, but, dang it all, Takahashi Rumiko just wants too much for him!**

'This is a beautiful country.' thought Akela Wind-runner as he rode through the Japanese

countryside. Granted, it wasn't as beautiful as the Black Hills where he made his home, but he imagined that his opinion was a little baised on that account. The Native American Lacota Sioux looked over at his family and smiled.

Indirectly, this vacation had been his wife's idea. She had told him that she had always wanted to visit the country of her mother's birth and he had decided to make her wish come true. The radiant smile that she gave him when she saw him looking at her was worth the time and money that had gone into the planning of this trip.

"Where to today, darling?" asked his wife.

"I thought that we would visit a little shrine that I read about in the hotel brochure. It's called the Higurashi Shrine. They have a rich history and are famous for something called the", he paused while he picked up the brochure to read it, "Shikon No Tama."

"Hhhmmm. Higurashi, hunh? And the Jewel of Four Souls?" his wife got a thoughtful look on her face. "I've heard those names before. I think my mother told me about the Jewel when I was a little girl. And I think that she mentioned the Higurashi name in the story." She sighed. "But that has been so long ago, I really can't remember any details."

"Maybe your mother knew the Higurashi family?"

"That's possible." She smiled. "Oh well, it doesn't matter anyway. I imagine that any Higurashi's that my mother knew have been dead for a while." She returned to staring out the window, taking in the scenery of her mother's country.

About an hour later, the cab they were in pulled up in front of the Higurashi shrine. "Stay with us, kids." Akela called as the twins piled out of the cab and began to run up the steps of the shrine.

The twins turned to look at him. "Aaww, dad!" they complained, in unison.

"We won't get into anything, dad." the twelve year old girl named Takani swore.

"Yeah, dad! We won't get into anymore trouble here than we do at home." agreed her twin brother, Akiak.

"That's what I'm worried about." mutterred Akela. He sighed. "Alright. You behaved yourselves while being cooped up in that cab, I guess it won't hurt for you to have a _little_ freedom. DON'T get into anything."

"We won't!" the twins called as they ran off to explore the shrine grounds.

Akela sighed, again. "I hope they behave."

His wife, Kagome, smiled at him and said, "I'm sure they will. After all, what kind of trouble can they get into at an old shrine?"

Akela smiled back

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Kagome stared at the blackboard in her history class and tried to concentrate on what her sensei was saying but it wasn't easy. She had argued with Inuyasha for several hours about coming back for school and then had to deal with him following her. Even now, he was on the roof, waiting for her to come out so that he could collect her and get her to the shrine as quickly as possible so that they could go back to his time.

'Why doesn't he understand that I have to do this if I am going to have any future here?' she thought, in exasperation. 'I don't know what he thinks I'm going to do after we defeat Naraku and the jewel is complete.'

A little voice in the back of her mind chimed in. 'Why don't you ask him?'

That brought her up short. 'Huh?'

'Why don't you ask him what he thinks you are going to do after the jewel is complete?' The voice in her head paused. 'Or are you afraid of the answer?'

Kagome was saved from this internal debate by the ringing of the class bell. Her school day was done and now she had to deal with her overbearing watch dog. She hung behind in the class room for a few minutes to allow the other kids to filter out of the halls before going to her locker. Then she fiddled around at her locker for a few minutes to kill time so that most of the students would be gone by the time she walked outside. This was her way of avoiding explaining Inuyasha to anyone. Besides the fact that he could be so darn rude at times and she didn't want him offending her friends.

Finally, she thought that enough time had passed for it to be safe. Unfortunately, she had forgotten the tenacity of her friends. When she stepped out of the doors of the school, she was suddenly swarmed by Eri, Ayumi, and Yuka. They were unable to get a word out before a familiar figure in red dropped from the roof to land behind them.

"Yo, Kagome!" he began angrily, and that was as far as he got before he was cut off by the shrill shrieks of the three surprised girls. Since he had dropped from the roof, they hadn't known he was behind them and he nearly scared them out of their socks. The bandana that he was wearing to cover his ears did nothing to protect them from the unexpected assault of the girls high pitched screams.

"Yah!" he yelled himself as his hands went to cover his ears. None of the girls noticed that his hands went to a different place than normal as they were all still clutching their chests and breathing heavily. "Damn it!" he swore. "What was that all about?"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled at him. "You scared them half to death! What do you expect?"

"Feh!" Inuyasha crossed his arms and glared at her. "I expect you to hurry so that we can go home."

The girls had gotten over their initial surprise and pounced on those words like a cat on a mouse.

"'We'?" said Ayumi.

"'Home'?" said Yuka.

Eri put two and two together and came to a startling conclusion. "Are you guys living together?" she asked, incredulously.

"Duh!" exclaimed Inuyasha, as Kagome looked like she was going to faint. "We've been living together for the last several monthes."

Kagome turned very pale. "It's not what it sounds like!" she shouted quickly, hoping to try and salvage the situation. "Inuyasha, you don't know what you're saying."

"What do you mean by that Kagome? They asked and I told them, simple as that. We've been traveling, eating, and sleeping together for monthes now. What's the big deal?" Inuyasha was sounding confused.

"Sleeping together!" shouted the three girls.

"NO!" Kagome shouted, feeling her control of this situation spiraling more and more out of control with each second. "It's not like that! We haven't been together like that!" She was getting desperate to keep her girlfriends from geting the wrong idea.

Inuyasha's mouth opened to say something else when he stopped and then slowly closed it. His face grew still and cold, reminding Kagome of his brother. He looked at her and then nodded his head, as if coming to a decision. Then, without a word, he turned and started to walk away.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome called, suddenly very worried about him. She ignored the looks that her friends gave her as she took a step to follow him. "Inuyasha?" she called again.

Inuyasha stopped and in a very cold voice said, "Gomen, Kagome. I understand now and will go to the shrine. I will see you there." Then he continued walking away.

Kagome's mouth dropped open. Something was very wrong! Inuyasha never apologized! She dropped all pretense and ran up behind him, grabbing his arm. "Inuyasha, what's wrong? What do you understand now?"

He didn't look at her. "It's alright, Kagome. I understand that you're embarressed to be seen with me. Don't worry. I won't embarress you anymore." That said, he pulled his arm out of her hand and continued walking.

Kagome stood there for a second, completely stunned. Finally, she found her voice. "Inuyasha, no!" she called out in anguish. "Please, Inuyasha, I'm not embarressed to be seen with you."

He spun around and faced her, anger making his eyes flash. "Oh, really?" his voice dripped sarcasm. "That's not how you acted a minute ago when your friends found out that we spent time together. You couldn't wait to tell them that we didn't! In my book, that says you're embarressed to be seen with me!"

"But people see us together all the time in our travels." she protested.

"Yeah, but you don't know any of them. Get us around somebody you know, and you don't want me around!"

"It's not like that, Inuyasha! They think we're sleeping together!" she shouted, not realizing that her friends had come up behind her.

"Well, we do!" Inuyasha shouted back. "What's your point?"

"Inuyasha, they don't mean 'sleep' sleeping together." she said, desperate to get him to understand why she had been so embarressed earlier.

Now Inuyasha looked more confused than angry. "They don't? Then what do they mean?"

"Uuhh, it's kind of hard to explain." suddenly realizing the trap she had gotten herself into.

"Try me." he stated, folding his arms across his chest. "I'm not stupid, you know."

Kagome blushed. "They think we're having ... sex."

The last word was barely audible, but Inyasha heard it loud and clear. His eyebrows and his ears shot up. If you knew where to look, you could even see the tips of them pushing against the bandanna he was wearing. He drew a deep breath and then looked at the girls behind Kagome. "Are you guys nuts?" he bellowed. "What do you take me for? Some kind of hentai? I haven't even asked her to be mates, yet for cryin' out loud!" He was going to rant at the girls some more when a sudden gasp from Kagome brought him up short.

"Kagome?" He put his hands on her shoulders as he looked at her in concern. "What's wrong?"

"I sense jewel shards." she said, in shock. "And it feels like they are at the shrine."

"Then we have no time to lose!" he shouted as he scooped her up and began running.

"I'll see you guys later!" Kagome shouted over Inuyasha's shoulder as they quickly moved out of sight.

Eri, Ayumi, and Yuka all looked at each other. Suddenly they began giggling. "Definately sleeping together." they all said to each other and then turned to go to their favorite resteraunt, each wondering when the wedding would take place and if they would be in it.

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Akela felt it first. He was standing on the shrine grounds, listening to an old man drone on about the shrine and it's history. Suddenly, he felt the surge of power, followed almost immediately by a scream of "DAD! Come quick!" from Akiak. He turned and ran toward the sound of his son's voice that seemed to be coming from an old building behind the main residencial house.

"Akiak!" he shouted. "Where are you?" He didn't wait on an answer but began to sniff the air, trying to get a track on his son's scent. It did lead to the old shack.

"Down here, Dad!" shouted his son, cofirming what his nose had already told him. "Hurry!" Akiak's voice had a sound of urgency to it.

As Akela started down the stairs into the old shack, his wife and their guide came up behind him.

"Wait!" shouted the old man. "You're not allowed down there!"

"Sorry, elder. But my son is down there and he has called for my help." This said he ran down the steps into the gloom of the shack. He found his son at the edge of what appeared to be an old well. He was looking down into it. Akela's blood ran cold as he realized something. Takani wasn't with her brother!

"Akiak! Where's Takani?"

His son looked at him with a panic striken look on his face. "She was right here, Dad. We were looking around and she said that something didn't feel right about this old wellhouse so she came in here to look and then she climbed up on the edge of this well to look down into it and then she slipped and fell and there was a flash of blue light and then she was gone and I'm sorry, Dad that we didn't listen to you closer but we didn't think that anything could happen here..." Akiak continued to babble as Kagome came down the stairs.

Akela looked at his wife. "Kagome!" He didn't notice the double take that the old man gave him or the quick look up the stairs of the wellhouse as if looking for someone. "Take care of Akiak." This said, he placed a hand on the side of the well and vaulted the low wall to drop down into the well. He hit the bottom in a crouch, looking for his daughter. She was no where to be seen! 'Damn it! If this is their idea of a joke, I'll kill them both!' But, remembering the look on his son's face, he doubted that this was a joke. He dropped down farther into his crouch to see if he could find his daughter's scent. It didn't take long. 'She was here, I smell her, so where did she go?' He closed his eyes and centered his senses, remembering that surge of power that he felt before Akiak called to him. There! There it was! He could feel the resonances of the power around him, coming from the walls of this old well.

"What have you gotten yourself into this time, Takani?" he asked the air, softly. He looked up to the top of the well to see his wife and son looking down at him, as well as the old man. His eyes narrowed at the old man. Maybe he could shed some light on the whereabouts of his daughter. He considered leaping out of the well to confront the old man, but noticed the ladder against one wall and decided that it wouldn't do to show the oldster too much. He quickly climbed the ladder even as a part of his mind asked why there was a ladder here. When he reached the top, he went over to his wife and shook his head at her questioning look. Then he looked at the old man.

"Where's my daughter, elder?"

The old man paled and began to stammer. "I-I-I'm sure that I have no idea."

Before he could react, Kagome beat him to it. The old man suddenly found himself against a wall, held up by a pair of delicate looking hands. "You are lying, Higurashi-sama." she said in a low voice. "Where is my daughter?"

The old man didn't get a chance to answer before a rough voice called from the doorway, "Put the old man down, bitch!"

Akela and Kagome quickly looked at the doorway to see a young man dressed in red with a bandanna on his head and a young woman standing behind him. The young man had a hand resting on the hilt of an old sword with the look of someone who was more than ready to draw it.

"Don't interfer, boy." Kagome turned to look at the old man that she held. "This man knows where my daughter disappeared to and I mean to find out what he knows." Suddenly she stiffened and turned her gaze back to the young man. She sniffed the wind that came in through the doorway. "You're inu-youkai?" She looked at her husband. "Akela, he's a hanyou."

Akela nodded his head. "Yeah, I caught that from his scent, too." He drew a deep breath and let it out slowly while observing the tension that went through the young man and his companion after his wife's announcement. "I'm going to unmask. Maybe that will help this before it gets out of hand." He held up a hand in a peace gesture. "Do not be alarmed at what I am about to do." he warned.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Inuyasha began, and then stopped as the man standing before him shimmered and then changed.

Behind him, a detached part of Kagome's mind went back to something that Jeninji's mother had told her, about how not all hanyou's were fortunate enough to look as human as Inuyasha. Over all, this man; no, this hanyou, who stood stood before them looked human. That is until you came to his head. Unlike Inuyasha, who except for his eyes, ears, and fangs looked human, there could be no mistaking his head for a humans. No, it more closely resembled the head of a North American timber wolf.

**A/N: Well, how's that for a beginning. Hope you like it. I have some interesting plans for this one. I'm going to try to keep it from getting as convulted as 'Reunion', but sometimes these stories take on a life of their own and I end up just along for the ride. 'Til we meet again, Fyrloche.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews. I appreciate the interest in this story. I was rather pleased to see a review from TouchOfPixieDust. I have been thoroughly enjoying her most recent story, 'Kagome's Baby'. Give it a read. It is very amusing. And now, on to the next exciting chapter in this tale. Well, I hope you think it is exciting. Obligatory disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or his friends. I would like to but my finances just aren't up to that kind of strain. **

Akela had believed that he would defuse the situation by revealing his true self. It didn't quite work out that way. On seeing his true form, the young hanyou in front of him swore and quickly drew his sword which transformed into an enormous fang. That's when things really got confused as several things happened at once.

The teenage girl behind the inu-youki hanyousaid, "Inuyasha!" 'That couldn't actually be the boy's name?' Akela thought. "The boy has a jewel shard!" She indicated Akiak.

Akiak moved backwards to get out of the violent looking hanyou's scrutiny, when he stumbled over the low wall that surrounded the well and fell backwards into it! His scream was cut off by a flash of blue light. At the same time, Akela felt the same surge of power that he had felt earlier.

"Akiak!" screamed Kagome, as she dropped the old man and ran to the well.

"The boy!" screamed the teenage girl, as she pushed past the inu hanyou and ran to the well.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha and Akela both yelled, at the same time. The women didn't pay any attention to the men, and they looked at each other somewhat stupidly.

The elder Kagome was rapidly losing it. She was looking down the well, pacing back and forth rapidly, whining. Akela's heart ached to join his mate but he was unsure of this hanyou. He hadn't put away his sword, though he did have an uncertain look on his face. The younger Kagome decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Inuyasha!" she shouted. "Will you put Tetsaiga away and get over here? I think the boy went through the well."

"Damn it, Kagome! We don't know what these demons are up to. Besides, they're wolves."

"So what if they're wolves! Put Tetsaiga away!"

"She was threatening the old man!"

During this interchange, Akela had backed up slowly until he was within arms reach of his mate. She was still pacing the edge of the well, whining in a heartbreaking manner. Suddenly, she threw back her head and howled, "My cubs! Where are my cubs?"

Inuyasha's eyes widened. "Oh, shit!" he exclaimed. He suddenly shouted at the girl. "Kagome! Get away from her!"

The teenage girl just looked at the inu hanyou. "She's just worried about her children, Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha slammed his sword back into it's sheath and made a sudden dash for the girl. "Damn it, Kagome! That's the problem!" He reached the girl, picked her up and turned, making a dash for the door.

"Inuyasha?" the girl questioned, "What are you babbling about? She's just worried about her kids." she repeated.

The elder Kagome suddenly vaulted the well wall and dropped to the bottom of the well. "Where are they?" she could be heard wailing. The sound of a fist slamming into the wooden wall of the well could be heard. "Damn it, what did you do with my cubs?" She howled again.

Akela took a chance that the teenage girl could control the hanyou. He turned and prepared to leap down into the well to try and calm his mate. Before he could move, however, he was met with a flash of fur. Kagome had transformed into her wolf state and was stalking the old man. Her growl was low and ominous. Where are my cubs?

"Calm down, Kagome!" Akela called to her. "He can't understand you when you are in this form!" he reminded her.

Without taking her eyes off ji-chan, she sent a snarl in Akela's direction. Then translate for him, because he is going to tell me where our cubs are or I am going to rip his throat out!

Before Akela could answer, a figure of silver and red appeared between Kagome and the old man. "Don't waste your time with him. He doesn't know anything about that well accept that his granddaughter and I can go through it. So stop wasting your time threatening a tired old man and try threatening me!" Inuyasha lifted his clawed hand. "But I can tell you, I don't threaten easy!"

"INUYASHA!"

Inuyasha flinched.

"Don't you dare threaten her! She just wants her children back!" The teenage Kagome came back down the stairs where Inuyasha had left her when he had picked her up earlier. "Now, offer to help. I'm sure that she will calm down and let us explain where her cubs have gone."

Kagome in wolf form turned and looked at teenage Kagome. She sat back on her haunches and cocked her head quizzically. Alright girl. Explain yourself and you had better make it good or else.

Inuyasha growled. "Don't threaten her or I will skin you alive, I don't care what Kagome says she will do to me."

Akela growled at that. "Don't threaten my mate!"

"Well don't threaten mine!" Inuyasha yelled back. Then he gulped and got a strange look on his face. "Uhh …I mean don't threaten Kagome!"

Akela took in the look on Inuyasha's face and chanced a look at the teenage Kagome. She had a blush on her face. Even given the seriousness of the situation, he still found young love amusing. "Kagome, huh?" He smiled. "I would never hurt someone named Kagome." He smiled at his mate who whined at him. "Change back, darling." He looked at the two young people who had moved together, the hanyou protectively in front of the girl. "I think that they want to help." He moved over to stand beside his mate as she resumed her human form. He put an arm around her shoulders and then glared at the hanyou and girl. "At least, they had better be ready to help."

"Feh!" exclaimed Inuyasha. "I just want to know how your pups went through the well."

"Cubs!" corrected Kagome.

"Pups, cubs, whatever! I just want to know how they got through the well."

"All I want to know is where this well leads and where my cubs are." replied Kagome.

"From everything that I have seen, I think that they have gone back to Inuyasha's time." answered the younger Kagome.

Akela's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by 'Inuyasha's time'?"

Teenage Kagome took a deep breath. "Inuyasha is from the Sengoku Jidai, about 500 years in the past."

"Kagome!" hissed Inuyasha.

"Look, they needed to know where and when their kids are." snapped Kagome.

The elder Kagome barked out a harsh laugh. "Ha! You expect us to believe that." She pointed at Inuyasha. "He can't be that old. He's probably around 150, so there is no way that he could have been born in the Sengoku Jidai."

"You don't listen very good, do you?" Inuyasha snapped back at her. "She didn't say I was born then, she said I was from then."

Akela quickly put what he had seen and the power surges he had felt, together. "The well is a portal then, a gateway through time." he stated.

Young Kagome looked at him in surprise and smiled. "Why, yes! That's it exactly!" Then the smile left her face. "But, I don't understand why it let those kids through."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Akela in alarm.

"Well, so far, it has only let me and Inuyasha come through it. No one else has ever been able to come through." Kagome thought about it for a moment. "Maybe it was the jewel shard that he was wearing." She looked at Akela. "Did your other child have a jewel shard, too?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." replied Akela. "What do you mean when you say 'jewel shard'?"

"Don't play dumb with us, wolf." answered Inuyasha. "The boy had a shard of the Shikon No Tama on him. Did your other kid have one or not?"

"Inuyasha, be nice." scolded teenage Kagome. "Your son was wearing it around his neck, like a pendant."

"Yes, yes! Takani had one, too. They were gifts to them from my mother." Kagome exclaimed. "All she ever said about them was that they were from her home, here in Japan. They were supposed to be for good luck and for granting wishes."

Inuyasha grew impatient with all the talk. "Look. Why don't I just hop down the well, grab your cubs and bring them back?" Everyone turned to look at him in astonishment. "What? It's the easiest solution to this whole mess."

The younger Kagome beamed at him. "Inuyasha, you're a genius!"

The inu-hanyou huffed. "I've been telling you that for months now. You should listen to me more often." He turned and glared at the wolf demon and the wolf hanyou. "Are you two going to get out of my way?"

Akela gently pulled his Kagome to one side and nodded at the inu-hanyou. "You'll need our safety word."

"'Safety word'?" asked Inuyasha, in confusion. 'What's that?"

"It takes too long to explain." said Akela. "It just let's the cubs know that you know us and are a friend."

Inuyasha looked thoughtful for a second. "Not a bad idea. So what's the word?"

"Nanaki."

"Weird word." Inuyasha shrugged, and started toward the well.

The elder Kagome put her hand on Inuyasha's sleeve as he passed. He turned his head to look into her eyes. "Please bring my cubs back." She ducked her head slightly. "I'm sorry about earlier, but I'm a mother and …" She didn't get to finish as Inuyasha held up his hand and interrupted her.

"Feh!" he said, gruffly. "I know better than to get between a bitch and her pups. I'll bring them back to you." He stepped past the two worried parents and placed his hand on the top of the low wall. "I'll be right back." he said, as he vaulted it and dropped into the depths of the well.

Akela felt the now familiar surge of power and saw the flash of blue light. He turned back with his mate to face the teenage girl and the old man who now stood together.

The old man was staring at the two of them with a strange look on his face. Then, he sighed. "More demons in the house and on the shrine grounds. This is most irregular." He turned to face the girl. "Kagome, I need to go to the house and look at my scrolls. The wards on the shrine must have worn off. I'm going to have to replace them." The old man turned to glare at the two demons in his well house. "I won't put them up until you have recovered your children. But, the minute you do, I expect you to be off the shrine grounds, never to return." With that last statement, he turned his back to them and stomped off up the stairs and into the yard, muttering something about inu youki and their interference in his life.

Teenage Kagome watched the old man go and then turned to look at Akela and Kagome. "Heh, heh, heh!" she laughed, nervously. "Please forgive ji-chan. He's all bark and no bite."

Akela smiled a wolves grin at Kagome. "Don't worry. I noticed that he didn't have any powers to speak of." He gave her a sidelong glance. "You, on the other hand, would be quite formidable."

"I'm not that strong." Kagome protested. "I can't seem to do anything except purifying arrows."

"You are undisciplined," corrected Akela, "not weak." He heard his mate groan next to him. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Only you could take someone we were fighting with two minutes ago and try to turn them into one of your students."

Akela shrugged and then smiled at his mate. "That's just the teacher in me. I can't stand to see wasted potential."

Teenage Kagome gaped at Akela. "Wait a minute! Are you telling me that you can tell my skill level just by looking at me? I've never met a demon that could do that just by looking at me. They have always had to see me in action first."

Akela raised his eyebrows in interest. "You fight a lot of demons, then?"

"Well, Inuyasha does most of the fighting. Though Sango and Miroku do a lot, too." explained Kagome.

Akela snorted. "I'm not surprised at that." He smiled a wolves smile, mouth gaped open slightly with the tip of his tongue showing. "He seems to be rather hot tempered."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "You have no idea." She paused for a second and then looked at Akela with a quizzical look in her eyes. "You are a sensei?" she asked. "What do you teach?"

Akela folded his arms over his chest. "You tell me." he challenged.

"Huh?" teenage Kagome asked intelligently.

Akela smiled, slightly, then let his face go impassive. "Center yourself. Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and look into yourself. Take inventory of your senses. See if anything 'feels' different."

Kagome did as she was told. Suddenly, her eyes popped open. "Your aura! It's different from a regular demon's."

Akela was pleased. "And what does that tell you?" he prompted.

Kagome was incredulous. "You have spiritual powers! Very strong ones." Kagome looked at him in a mix of awe and wonder. "What are you?"

Akela laughed at the expressions on her face. "I am what you get when a shaman of the way mates with a spirit wolf. I have the powers of both." He looked at her again. "So, what do I teach?"

"You teach others how to use their spiritual energy." Kagome said, in excitement. "Oh, wow! Could I ever use your help! Most of what I do is by instinct or when I'm mad."

"Instinct can be a good starting point." That was as far as he got before a throat clearing sound was heard. They turned their heads to look at the elder Kagome.

"Sorry to break up this little teaching session, but hasn't your boyfriend been gone long enough to bring back my children?" the older woman asked, in some frustration.

"He has been gone for longer than I would have thought it would have taken him." mused Kagome. She smiled brightly. "I know. I'll just jump through right quick and see what's keeping him." She put her hand on the edge of the well. "I'll be right back." she called as she vaulted the wall.

Akela and Kagome waited, patiently. After a few minutes, though, they began to fidget. Kagome started to pace again. Suddenly, Akela's head came up. "Someone is coming back." he said, as he felt the energy build in the well. He looked down into the well and saw Kagome appear out of thin air, to land lightly on the floor of the well. She was alone. "Something has gone wrong." he said as he vaulted the wall and dropped down next to Kagome. Quickly, he scooped the girl up and leaped out of the well. When he landed on the well house floor, he let her down. "Alright, girl. Where are our cubs?" he demanded.

Teenage Kagome had a stricken look on her face. "I'm sorry. I don't know how else to tell you this, but something has taken your children."

"What?"

"That's why Inuyasha hasn't come back. He got there just in time to see whatever it was take off with the kids. He took off after it. As he was chasing it, our friends came up and he told them to wait for me and tell me what was going on so that I could tell you. He said not to worry. He had promised to bring those pups back to their mother and he wouldn't fail." Kagome looked at the older Kagome and her mate. "I'm sorry that you are going through this, but don't worry. If Inuyasha says that he will get your children back, he will. He never breaks his word."

Akela's mind was racing. "We have to get back there." he stated.

Teenage Kagome was startled. "It's impossible! No one else can use the well but Inuyasha and myself!"

"Nothing's impossible, young lady." he reprimanded her. "Need I remind you that my children just went through that well, so there must be a way through. And I intend to find it!"

**A/N: This is as good a place to stop as any. Sorry for the delay, but I have had a killer sinus headache for the past week and a half. It's very hard to concentrate when your head won't stop throbbing. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. Next chapter will deal with the kids and Inuyasha's chase. See you soon.**


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